3 dead in a Schweizer SGS 2-32 glider crash near Sterling Mountain, Green Mountains, VT – United States of America
The aircraft impacted wooded mountainous terrain on Sterling Mountain in the Green Mountains of Vermont. The glider sustained substantial damage and the three occupants onboard received fatal injuries.
After 3 1/2 hours of searching, an aerial crew spotted the downed glider late in the afternoon about 1,000 feet below the Sterling Mountain summit, not far from the Long Trail.
At about 9:35 p.m., they came upon the wreckage and found all three occupants of the glider dead, Vermont State Police Lt. Shawn Loan said in a 10:30 p.m. news conference at the search’s command post at the airport located just south of Morrisville.
The glider, belonging to the company Stowe Soaring, had left the Morrisville-Stowe State Airport late Wednesday morning, police said.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation and police said it’s too early to say what factors may have played in role.
According to police, a tow plane with the glider attached left the airport at about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. Police said the glider detached from the tow plane over Spruce Peak about 20 minutes later.
At 1:56 p.m., the Morrisville Police Department received a report that the glider was missing, according to police.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are expected to join the investigation, Loan said.
DEVELOPING: Search and rescue crews including @VTStatePolice are responding to a downed glider with three people aboard in the Stowe/Morrisville area. #btv #vt pic.twitter.com/h0VgZtep8b
— Adam Silverman (@Wej12) August 29, 2018
UPDATE: At about 9:35pm, emergency crews incl @VTStatePolice located the wreckage of a glider that went down on Sterling Mountain in Stowe, Vermont, earlier today with 3 people aboard. There were no survivors. #btv #vt pic.twitter.com/NkV1xLSA9q
— Adam Silverman (@Wej12) August 30, 2018